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Comparison of the effects of LED light quality combination on growth and nutrient accumulation in green onion (Allium fistulosum L.)

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Abstract

The growth and development and metabolism of plants have different physiological responses to different light qualities. To study the influence of light qualities on green onions, the impacts of LED light treatment on the growth and development as well as the nutritional components and flavor substances in green onions were studied under controlled conditions. Leaf area, plant height, dry matter accumulation, Dickson’s quality index (DQI), nutritional content, and volatile compounds under different light quality treatments were determined. The results indicated that the white and blue combined light (W/B: 3/1) treatment was the most beneficial to growth and nutrient accumulation and led to higher levels of sulfur compounds in the green onions than the other treatments. This shows that it is possible to control the contents of compounds that affect consumer preferences by adjusting the lighting conditions and to thereby increase the value and quality of seasoning vegetables.

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Funding

This study was supported by the Shandong Province’s dual-class discipline construction project (Grant No. SYL2017YSTD06), the Agricultural application technology innovation project in Shandong Province of China (Grant No. 310131), and the China Agriculture Research System (Grant No. CARS-24-A-09).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Horticulture Science and Engineering, Shandong Agricultural University, Taishan District, Tai’an, 271018, People’s Republic of China

    Song Gao, Xuena Liu, Ying Liu, Bili Cao, Zijing Chen & Kun Xu

  2. Collaborative Innovation Center of Fruit & Vegetable Quality and Efficient Production in Shandong, Tai’an, China

    Song Gao, Xuena Liu, Ying Liu, Bili Cao, Zijing Chen & Kun Xu

  3. Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops in Huanghuai Region, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Tai’an, People’s Republic of China

    Song Gao, Xuena Liu, Ying Liu, Bili Cao, Zijing Chen & Kun Xu

  4. State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Tai’an, 271018, China

    Song Gao, Xuena Liu, Ying Liu, Bili Cao, Zijing Chen & Kun Xu

Authors
  1. Song Gao
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  2. Xuena Liu
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  3. Ying Liu
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  4. Bili Cao
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  5. Zijing Chen
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  6. Kun Xu
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Contributions

Song Gao: conceptualization, methodology, software, formal analysis, investigation, data curation, writing—original draft, visualization. Xuena Liu, Ying Liu: validation, investigation. Bili Cao, Zijing Chen: supervision, project administration. Kun Xu: conceptualization, resources, writing—review & editing, supervision, project administration, funding acquisition.

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Correspondence to Kun Xu.

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Gao, S., Liu, X., Liu, Y. et al. Comparison of the effects of LED light quality combination on growth and nutrient accumulation in green onion (Allium fistulosum L.). Protoplasma 258, 753–763 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00709-020-01593-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00709-020-01593-y

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